Today’s Food History

1782 Andreas Sigismund Marggraf died. A German chemist who discovered beet sugar, which led to the development of the modern sugar industry.

1794The Whiskey Rebellion. Protesting the 1791 federal tax on distilled spirits a large gathering of rebels in western Pennsylvania burned the regional tax inspectors home. President Washington ordered 13,000 troops to the area, but opposition disappeared.

1903 Louis Leakey was born. Anthropologist largely responsible for convincing scientists that Africa was the place to search for human origins, not Java or China. Together with his wife Mary, they made many significant fossil discoveries.

1925 M.S. Swaminathan was born. Swaminathan is an Indian geneticist and a leading figure in India’s Green Revolution, which distributed high yield wheat and rice varieties to poor farmers.